Could the dog attacks have been prevented?

Tribune Editors

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, August 26, 2009

It’s impossible to know whether having a dedicated, in-county animal control officer would have prevented last week’s vicious attack on 2-year-old Luke Volmering of Sherman Township, but it’s not difficult to compare dog bite data.

County officials have rightly reopened discussion about whether to hire an animal control officer. Part of that discussion should be a comparison of statistics from areas around the country that have an official animal control officer and from areas that do not.

An argument could be made it was a coincidence a toddler was mauled by a vicious dog just months after David Whitenack, a veteran from the Kinde area, was killed and his friends severely wounded by a pack of three dogs. But, an investigation of statistics would show whether there is a higher probability of vicious dog attacks in areas without an animal control officer.

It falls on county officials — either the board of commissioners or the sheriff’s office — to collect this data. If the numbers show a correlation between a lack of an animal control officer and a higher rate of dog bite incidents, the board of commissioners should find the funds to make the hire.

In the meantime, readers, please keep Luke and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Thankfully, the boy has been released from the hospital, and the rabies test results were negative. It’s likely, however, Luke will bear scars from this incident for the rest of his life.

If statistics show having a dedicated animal control officer is likely to prevent another person from suffering the same fate as Luke and Whitenack, we hope our local government will provide that protection.